Genesis 17

1When Abram was ninetie yeere olde and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said vnto him, I am God all sufficient. walke before me, and be thou vpright, 2And I will make my couenant betweene me and thee, and I will multiplie thee exceedingly. 3Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, 4Beholde, I make my couenant with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations, 5Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shalbe Abraham: for a father of many nations haue I made thee. 6Also I will make thee exceeding fruitfull, and will make nations of thee: yea, Kings shall proceede of thee. 7Moreouer I wil establish my couenant betweene me and thee, and thy seede after thee in their generations, for an euerlasting couenant, to be God vnto thee and to thy seede after thee. 8And I will giue thee and thy seede after thee the land, wherein thou art a stranger, euen all the land of Canaan, for an euerlasting possession, and I will be their God. 9Againe God said vnto Abraham, Thou also shalt keepe my couenant, thou, and thy seede after thee in their generations. 10This is my couenant which ye shall keepe betweene me and you, and thy seede after thee, Let euery man childe among you be circumcised: 11That is, ye shall circumcise the foreskin of your flesh, and it shalbe a signe of the couenant betweene me and you. 12And euery man childe of eight dayes olde among you, shalbe circumcised in your generations, aswell he that is borne in thine house, as he that is bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seede. 13He that is borne in thine house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needes be circumcised: so my couenant shall be in your flesh for an euerlasting couenant. 14But the vncircumcised man childe, in whose flesh the foreskin is not circumcised, euen that person shall be cut off from his people, because he hath broken my couenant. 15Afterward God said vnto Abraham, Sarai thy wife shalt thou not call Sarai, but Sarah shalbe her name. 16And I will blesse her, and will also giue thee a sonne of her, yea, I will blesse her, and she shall be the mother of nations: Kings also of people shall come of her. 17Then Abraham fell vpon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a childe be borne vnto him, that is an hundreth yeere olde? and shall Sarah that is ninetie yeere olde beare? 18And Abraham saide vnto God, Oh, that Ishmael might liue in thy sight. 19Then God saide, Sarah thy wife shall beare thee a sonne in deede, and thou shalt call his name Izhak: and I will establish my couenant with him for an euerlasting couenant, and with his seede after him. 20And as concerning Ishmael, I haue heard thee: loe, I haue blessed him, and will make him fruitfull, and will multiplie him exceedingly: twelue princes shall he beget, and I will make a great nation of him. 21But my couenant will I establish with Izhak, which Sarah shall beare vnto thee, the next yeere at this season. 22And he left off talking with him, and God went vp from Abraham. 23Then Abraham tooke Ishmael his sonne and all that were borne in his house, and all that was bought with his money, that is, euery man childe among the men of Abrahams house, and he circumcised the foreskinne of their flesh in that selfe same day, as God had comaunded him. 24Abraham also himselfe was ninetie yeere olde and nine, when the foreskinne of his flesh was circumcised. 25And Ishmael his sonne was thirteene yeere olde, when the foreskinne of his flesh was circumcised. 26The selfe same day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his sonne: 27And all the men of his house, both borne in his house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.

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Genesis 17

The Covenant of Circumcision

1When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said, “I am the Mighty God. Walk faithfully with me. Live in a way that pleases me. 2I will now act on my covenant between me and you. I will greatly increase the number of your children after you.”

3Abram fell with his face to the ground. God said to him, 4“This is my covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. 5You will not be called Abram anymore. Your name will be Abraham, because I have made you a father of many nations. 6I will greatly increase the number of your children after you. Nations and kings will come from you. 7I will make my covenant with you last forever. It will be between me and you and your family after you for all time to come. I will be your God. And I will be the God of all your family after you. 8You are now living in Canaan as an outsider. But I will give you the whole land of Canaan. You will own it forever and so will all your family after you. And I will be their God.”

9Then God said to Abraham, “You must keep my covenant. You and your family after you must keep it for all time to come. 10Here is my covenant that you and your family after you must keep. You and every male among you must be circumcised. 11That will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12It must be done for all time to come. Every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised. That includes those who are born into your own family or outside it. It also includes those bought with money from a stranger. 13So any male born into your family or bought with your money must be circumcised. My covenant will last forever. Your body will have the mark of my covenant on it. 14Any male who has not been circumcised will be separated from his people. He has broken my covenant.”

15God also said to Abraham, “Do not continue to call your wife by the name Sarai. Her name will be Sarah. 16I will give her my blessing. You can be sure that I will give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of nations will come from her.”

17Abraham fell with his face to the ground. He laughed and said to himself, “Can a 100-year-old man have a son? Can Sarah have a child at the age of 90?” 18Abraham said to God, “I really wish Ishmael could receive your blessing!”

19Then God said, “Yes, I will bless Ishmael. But your wife Sarah will have a son by you. And you will name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him. That covenant will last forever. It will be for Isaac and his family after him. 20I have heard what you said about Ishmael. I will surely bless him. I will make his family very large. He will be the father of 12 rulers. And I will make him into a great nation. 21But I will establish my covenant with Isaac. By this time next year, Sarah will have a son by you.” 22When God had finished speaking with Abraham, God left him.

23On that same day Abraham circumcised his son Ishmael. He also circumcised every male who was born into his family or bought with his money. He did exactly as God had told him. 24Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. 25His son Ishmael was 13. 26Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. 27And every male in Abraham’s household was circumcised along with him. That included those born into his family or bought from a stranger.

Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®

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